ISU’s campus radio station, WZND, will now broadcast on 103.3 FM covering a 3.5 mile range in the Bloomington and Normal communities.

WZND has had limited reach, broadcasting via cable, closed carrier current in residence hall television and on the Internet.

It has always been a dream of the station to get a tower as they have won over 125 awards and scholarships on local, state, regional and national levels. The only thing WZND has been missing is a transmitter and license to broadcast.

As of 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 27, WZND can now be heard on the FM 103.3 low powered radio signal.

Deb Lesser, director of radio and faculty advisor of WZND, explained obtaining an FM signal has been a goal for over 20 years.

“This has been a goal ever since I became the faculty advisor. The students have always wished for an opportunity to broadcast on the airwaves, but there are a limited number of airwaves so there are not always airwaves to get. The university foundation received the gift of a low powered FM station, and we were able to work with them to broadcast our student station on that,” Lesser said.

Daily Vidette Archive Photo: WZND, ISU’s radio station, will now broadcast on FM dial 103.3, covering a 3.5 mile radius. WZND has won over 125 awards in its history and obtaining an FM dial has been a goal of WZND for over 20 years.

The station received permission to switch over to the FM dial at the beginning of September, making the last three weeks very busy for staff members.

Lesser added it was a very hectic time with the behind the scene work that went on to make the change a reality. WZND had to change the station identification and logo along with preparing music and promotions for the big day.     

Lesser could not have done it without her students, whom rose to the occasion and put in many  hours of work to make the switch possible.

Taylor Fishburn, production director at WZND, explained her role in this historical event.

“We have call letters now, and I had to change all [of] our imaging, all the stuff that says ‘you’re listening to WZND.’ I had to go back and change all the commercials and things. That was kind of a big deal going through all the old imaging and either rewriting it or revoicing it,” Fishburn said.

Fishburn added how all the hard work paid off in the end.

“This has been in the making for a long time so it’s really historical. This is a really exciting time for the radio station and I am really excited that I was part of the team that got us launched on the fm dial,” Fishburn said.

As far as future plans go, WZND hopes to continue covering campus news as well as community news like they have always done.

“I would really like to thank the people that have made this possible because without the backing of administrators at Illinois State University and the ISU foundation this would not have been possible. Dr. Bowman, Dr. Sheri Noren Everts, Dr. Larry Long and William Fanning among many others have worked really hard to make this possible for us. Our chief engineer, Mark Hill, has been here for 28 years and he’s a fabulous guy and we wouldn’t have been able to do it without him, and my students are the best,” Lesser said.